I realize that most of You won't ever see a jaw until after It's
been prepped ... So the next best way to tell the 2 Mako species
apart is by examining the shape of the upper teeth. The longfin
has more 'broader" and wider teeth, with a shape like a
"kitchen knife", see? Also, the shortfin's teeth are 'reflexed"
which means that they start off from the root curving one way,
but by the full length of the tooth is reached, the direction has
swung back toward the center.

Click for a larger image

 The third method is by observing the center upper and lower
teeth, the longfin has complete cutting edges on It's upper
and lower center teeth all the way along the blade to It's
root, whereas the shortfin has It's cutting edge terminate
about 3/4 of the way from the point to the root
(On the distal side of the tooth , that's the side furtherest from
the center of the jaw) Now this cutting-edge-inspectition-method
to determine the two different mako sharks  is usually only
relevant for small Makos, as I've seen Adult and XXL
shortfins that have complete cutting edges along their
upper center primary teeth.. So be a bit careful, OK?

Click for a larger image

Another observatrion that You can make is the variation in
diastema between the intermediate tooth and next distal tooth  ...
Distema is the distance between the teeth ... See in the longfin
this distance is greater than in the shortfin (red dots):

Click for a larger image

I have to say that after the most obvious difference
in the coloration of the heads of the mako species ...
The shape of the upper center primary teeth is the
easiest way to determine a longfin from a shortfin.
Good Luck! I hope that I've helped,
TheSharkDoctor

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